The New World
by Jauntues Tigerwolf
Summary: January 10, 2020 I probable don't need to write this, 'cause whoever reads this will already know that the whole world has gone to Hell. Walkers,Biters, whatever you want to call them have pretty much taken over the world.
1. Chapter 1- The Ranch

**Disclaimer-I do not own The Walking Dead.**

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_January 10, 2020_

_I probable don't need to write this, 'cause whoever reads this will already know that the whole world has gone to Hell. Walkers,Biters, whatever you want to call them have pretty much taken over the world. As far as I know there is no place that does not have Walkers prowling and roaming around. The closest to a safe haven that I have is my ranch that my husband and I had bought, and even then there is the occasional pack of Walkers. I am also not alone. As of right now there are ten other people with me; as well as a few farm animals and pets._

_The first three people I met had actually stumbled into my front porch when this apocalypse first happened._

_I had just come back to the ranch after a run to the town that is four miles away. I had loaded up my pick-up truck will all the fodder, food, and supplies I could. I was unloading the truck when I had seen them trying to find a place to hide in the brush. I had pulled put my pump-action shotgun. It had turned out that the three people that were hiding in the brush was a family._

_Richard Yard  
Husband to Patricha Yard and father of Lucie Yard. He is forty-eight year old caucasian male with brown eyes and short brown hair. He is about 5'7 He used to be a forman for construction workers. He is very handy with building and repairing. He is very well tempered and patient. A loving family man all and all._

_Patricha Yard  
Wife to Richard Yard and mother of Lucie Yard. She is forty-five year old caucasian female with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She is 5'3 Before she had Lucie she used to be a baker. Once she had Lucie, though, she became a stay home mom. She is very helpful with cooking and keeping things and people in order. She, like her husband is well tempered and patient. They are both very good with handguns and blunt melee weapons._

_Lucie Yard  
Daughter of Patricha and Richard Yard. She is thirteen years old caucasian female with shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes. She is 4'10 She never really knew what she wanted to be when she grew up. She is very mature, probably due to the hell that this world has turned into. She is helpful with moral and keeping watch. She has good eyes and ears, not to mention a very accomplished singer when she isn't too shy._

_It was only a week later when two more people came to my ranch. They were covered in grime and sweat. Four walkers were following only about a few yards behind them. Richard and I went around back to help 'em out. We cut the walkers down with an axe and a cane knife. The two were very scared and it took them a little while for them to calm down. When they finally could talk they turned out to be two very interesting characters._

_Kyle Falonzo  
He is a fifty-five year old Mexican male with a cropped hair style and a short beard. He has brown eyes and is about 5'8 He is a former Navy SEAL. He has a very humorous laid back attitude, but he can be very serious and focused when the need arises. He is very handy when it comes to planning, supply runs, and perimeter sweeps; he is also very good with kids. He gets along very well with the Yard family, especially Richard. He also has a dog named Chopper. Chopper is a male Doberman. He is very friendly and is also very intelligent._

_Monica Toranto  
She is a twenty year old African American woman with long dreadlocks pulled back into a single pony tail. She had brown eyes and is about 5'1. She was in the Army, on leave to visit family when this all happened. She happened to meet Kyle while she was holed up in a fast-food place. She works very well with Kyle, since they both know how to work and cooperate with each other. She is very good with handguns and assault rifles. She loves kids, in fact she had a daughter and a husband. She lost them both early in the apocalypse, though._

_For over three months it was us six on the ranch, tending the animals and fighting Walkers. It was the beginning week of the fourth month when the last four people came to my ranch. They were traveling on the road with a huge RV, that happened to run out of gas not one mile from my place. It was another family, they were tired of being on the road. it took them a little while to adjust to there being actual people around them and not Walkers, but they did fine. We filled up their RV and they drove it to the ranch._

_Philip Morgan  
Father of Jessie and Paul Morgan. Husband of Josephine (Josie) Morgan. He is a forty-year old African American male. He is bald, no beard or mustache. He has brown eyes and is about 6'1. He used to be mechanic, so he is very good with cars and other auto-motives; he knows his parts and signal lights. He gets along well with everyone; it's like everyone he meets can't resist being his friend. He is a good, trustworthy man._

Josephine (Josie) Morgan  
Mother of Jessie and Paul Morgan. Wife of Philip Morgan. She is a thirty-six year old African American female with short hair. She has brown eyes and is about 5'7; a tall and strong woman. She used to be a hair dresser. She is good at taking care of the kids and looking out for them. She can be very head strong at times, but she is a good friend.

_Jessie Morgan  
Daughter of Philip and Jose Morgan. She is a thirteen year old African American female with hair pulled back in a pony tail of dreadlocks. She has brown eyes and is 5'1. She told me that if 'this' (the virus) didn't happen she wanted to be a hair dresser, and work with her mom. She is so much like her mother. She is patient and very enthusiastic; nothing seems to get her spirits down. She is best friends with Lucie._

_Paul Morgan  
Son of Philip and Jose Morgan. He is a ten year old African American male with very short hair. He has brown eyes and is 4'11. He wanted to be a police officer when this all happened. He is enthusiastic like his sister and eager to learn whatever he can from his father. He loves the horses on the ranch._

_I am the owner of the ranch that we all stay on. As I said before, I inherited it from my grandfather._

_My name is Jane Johansen . I am a thirty year old asian female. I have shoulder length brown hair and dark brown eyes. I am about 5'5. I was a successful rancher with a herd of over a hundred cattle. Now the number has dwindled down to a mere five; three cows and two bulls. I had sixteen horses for me and the ranch hands, but they all fled. Some turned into walkers, however, and they came back to the ranch and got into some of the horses stalls. Most of the horses deaths were caused by being eaten by the old ranch hands. So, as of right now, I only have four. I was married to Gregory Johanson, but he died a few years before the Walkers came. He had been out in the field with one of the farm hands, racing the horses. When he was on the last lap around the field, the horse tripped in a gopher hole. My husband went down with the horse and ended up snapping his neck. The paramedics and police said that it was a quick and painless death. I managed the farm and hired help by myself._

_There are other animals at the ranch, that I mentioned before. You see when I first found out about this break out, I was in the middle of town, on a Wednesday buying groceries. When the walkers came through it was terrible. People ran, some pushing over others so that they would slow the walkers down. Children were left crying on the sidewalk and friends abandoned friends in their greatest moment of need._

_In the middle of it all I saw people running into stores and raiding. Every little thing they could get their hands on, they took. I can't lie and say I didn't follow this movement. I had a shopping cart and was filling it with canned goods, food, toiletries, water, and fodder. I soon left the store and was at my pick-up like a shot. I had just finished throwing everything in the back when I heard howling and barking that would break anyones heart. I looked around for the source of the noise and soon found it. It was the small local pet store. All the animals in the front window were dead, but the noise was coming from inside the store. I didn't think for a second and the next thing I knew, I was throwing a tarp over my goods, grabbing my pistol and Swiss Army knife from the glove compartment and sprinting for the pet store._

_The store had only two walkers in it, nothing a swift stab to the brain couldn't handle. Once they dropped, I was looking through the glass part of the door in the back. No Walkers were in there, just a bunch of poor scared dogs and cat of all sizes and breeds. I tried the door knob, but it was locked. Kicking the door did no good either. I shot the lock and forced the door inward. The barking and howling increased to the point where I had to cover my ears. I had to shush them all, it wasted precious minutes, but they all quieted. I stated breaking open cages. Shoving my knife where the lock was and breaking it. I opened several dog cages, releasing a pug, terrier, and a retriever. I moved to the cats and released a Calico, Tabby, and a Persian. I released a few more cats before resuming releasing the dogs. I opened two cages before I met Charlie and Sarah. Charlie is a Siberian Husky and Sarah is a German Shepard. They did't run like all the other dogs, they actually stayed by my side and looked outside every once and awhile. When I had finally released all the dogs and had moved onto the cats, Charlie started to bark. I turned around and there was a walker coming through the door._

_Now at that time I didn't know the dogs and I expected them to abandon me as soon as the walker walked a few more steps. I was completely caught off guard when, instead of fleeing, they stayed and growled. They bit at the walkers legs and gave me time to shove my knife into his forehead. It dropped to the floor in a heap and I resumed breaking into cat cages. It was the last cat of them all that stayed with me. It was a two year old female Russian Blue named Jinx. When I got her out of the cage, she jumped on my shoulder and wouldn't get off. I tried to pick her up and put her on the floor, but she just kept jumping on something and finding her way back onto my shoulder. After a few more attempts to try to stop her from getting onto my shoulder. The dogs didn't leave my side either. Seeing that these these animals were not going to run off, I looked through the store and grabbed collars, leashes, and food. We found my truck. I opened the door and the dogs and the cat jumped in the passenger seat._

_Well the dogs actually squeezed into a small space in the back of truck. I considered it a passenger seat...for kids seeing that an adult would never be able to sit there. I tucked the pet supplies under the tarp and jumped into the truck and drove back to the ranch._

_The cat and the dogs have proved very faithful companions and good family animals._

_Now that I have all the people and animals down, you are probably wondering how we all fit in this house. Well, while bedrooms are limited, sleeping bags are plentiful. The Yards and the Morgans have their own room for their family. Monica, Kyle, and I sleep in the living room. The dogs sleep on the floor near the door and the cat curls up next to me most of the time. Having pets around can really do wonders. People may not realize this, but pets really help with morale. When you're upset or sad, they seem to sense it and they curl up next to you and lick your face; almost as if they are saying 'It will be okay.'_

_We are living in safety so far, but how lo-_

"Miss Jane?"

My concentration broke from the journal to Lucie, who was standing at the door. "Yes? What's wrong dear?"

"My mom was checking the supply stores. She told me to tell you that tomorrow, we need to go on a food run. We have enough water though."

I smiled, "Okay, thanks."

Lucie nodded and turned to leave when she stopped and turned around. "Miss Jane, why do you keep a journal?"

I thought for a moment. "It's just to keep my thoughts together. It's a relaxing activity as well."

"Why would you want to remember all this though? It is terrible out there. Walkers and people who were killed." Lucie asked.

"Well, no matter how much I don't want to remember...I have to. It is a part of our history now."

Lucie nodded. "Okay...I get it now."

Lucie left the room and I resumed the journal entry.

_We are living in safety so far, but how much longer will it last?"_

I closed the journal and sat for a minute, enjoying the silence. I shook my head and snapped back to reality after a couple more minutes. I got up and headed down stairs. I walked into the kitchen and saw Kyla and Monica at the table where a map was spread out.

"Hey Jane." Monica said.

"Hey."

Kyle looked up. "We are looking for the nearest town besides the one that is about two miles from here."

I nodded and looked at the map with them. After studying it for a few minutes, I found the town we needed.

"Here. This town is only twenty minutes away, granted we don't run into trouble. I've been there before though. There was a supermarket on near every block you turned on."

Kyle studied it for a minute. "Who do we take?" Well, normally I would take my truck for all the storage space...but there is only room for me and possible two other people if we don't take a dog. We could take the RV, but that might take up more gas."

"I say we take pickup. We can take three people. One will just have to sit in the cargo hold with one of the dogs. We can take Chopper with us." Monica suggested.

I thought about this for a moment. "Okay, that seems like the best option we have. Oh, Kyle, can you help me load up the supplies... and grab the empty gas canisters, if we see any cars on the way we can syphon their gas."

Kyle nodded and followed me outside to the pickup, where we started loading empty canisters. In total we have sixteen, but decided to only take four. I stuck my spare revolver in the glove compartment and Kyle loaded his firearms in the small backseat. I got the tarp and rope ready. I looked up at the sky, it was mid-afternoon.

"You think we could move up the run to fifteen minutes from now?" Kyle asked.

"I don't see why not. I am not up to doing nothing for the rest of the day. Just make sure you let Pat know."

He nodded. "No problem."

We went back inside and Kyle went to look for Patricha. I looked around and saw Jinx sitting on the couch arm, looking at me expectantly. I smiled and rolled my eyes and walked closer so she could jump onto my shoulder. I scratched behind her ears and went to see where everyone else was. I wasn't very hard to find them. The Yard and Morgan families had grown a very close friendship. Both the families were in, what I consider, the backyard looking at the horses. The kids were fascinated by the horses, they couldn't get enough of them.

"Hi, Miss Jane!" All the kids chorused once they saw me.

"Hey guys." I answered.

"Miss Jane can you take out one of the horses, please?" Paul asked.

"Paul, you see them everyday." His mother chortled. Paul looked down.

"Yes, we know mom, but they don't come out very often." Jessie said.

Paul and the other children looked at me with a mixture of hope and a bit of puppy-dog cuteness."Could you please take out a horse?"

I feigned seriousness, "Oh, I don't know. They haven't ben brushed for a while so they'll be all dirty. I have to brush the horse first before I let you see it. It could take awhile."

"We can brush it!" the children exclaimed.

"Are you sure? It takes a lot of work."

"We can do it. After we're done with the brushing it will be the cleanest horse you've ever seen!" Lucie promised.

I couldn't help smiling, "Okay you've convinced me. Which horse do you want taken out?"

The children didn't hesitate to answer, "Can you take our Bounder?"

Bounder is an relatively young Lipizzaner horse I bought from a horse auction. He isn't a good work horse, but he is a good companion and children's horse. He is very friendly and loves attention.

I got his halter and lead and took him out of his stall. He seemed happy that he got to stretch his legs. I tied him to the post and got out the brushes for the children.

"Do you know about all the brushes?" I asked them.

They all shook their heads. "No."

"Well, I'll teach you all." I said, taking out the first brush.

"This is called the Curry Comb. You should use this brush first. This brush is used in a circular motion." I demonstrated, "You use this brush only on the body and neck; be sure not to use this brush on the horses face or legs. You could hurt them that way."

All the children were listening intently and I let some of them try; to let them get used to the brush and to let them have some experience. All the kids got a section on the body, except for the rump of the horse which I did. As friendly as the horse is, I don't want one of the kids getting kicked.

"Okay, next brush." I pulled another brush out of my bag. "This brush is called the Dandy Brush. With this brush you want to move from front to back. You can use this brush on the legs, but not the face."

I let them use this brush and they all did a very good job. They seemed to have an endless energy supply when it came to learning and horses. They were learning and moving faster than I thought they would. I pulled out three more brushes.

"Okay, guys. These are the last three brushes you need to learn. This brush is called the Soft Brush and these are the Mane Brushes. The soft brush you can use on the face, don't brush anywhere else or you'll wear out the bristles faster than you're supposed to. Lucie, you can brush Bounders face; be careful of his eyes though. Paul, Jessie, you two get to use the Mane Brushes and brush Bounders mane and tail."

Paul took the tail and Jessie ,since she was taller, took the mane. Before Paul got behind the horse I had to teach him something.

"Okay Paul, I was going to teach you all this after the brushing was done, but you are going to learn it early."

His eyes got wide and he nodded with sincerity.

"When you're behind a horse, it doesn't matter whether you are going to be there for a few minutes or a couple of seconds, you have to keep you had on the horses rear. Like this," I out my hand on Bounder's flank. Do you know why you have to do this?"

"Because he can't see me." Paul answered.

I was surprised, he was correct, but I hadn't expected him to know right off the bat.

tyyt"Yes...very well answered. How did you know?"

"Well...when I am behind him, I can't see his head."

I nodded and he proceeded to brush out the knots in Bounders tail. I watched all the children brush Bounder. They were taking the utmost care and being very gentile. I smiled, it was good to know that there was still some tenderness and some innocence in the hell that the world had turned into.

Once all the kids were done brushing I showed them all how I used the hoof pick and how to maneuver behind the horse with one hand on the rump of the horse.

"And lastly, never and I mean never, go under the horse. He can kick you, it can be an accident, but he can kick you none the less. Do you all understand?" I admonished gravely.

"Yes, Miss Jane." They all said.

I looked back to the house and saw Kyle and Monica leaning against the railing of the porch. I looked at the watch on my wrist, it was well past half-an-hour past the time we were supposed to leave.

"I'm so sorry guys, I got caught up in teaching the kids-" I started.

"No need to be sorry. Those kids were having a good time. They weren't worried about being eaten alive for once." Monica said kindly.

Kyle nodded. "Well, are we all ready. I've let everyone know."

I nodded, but then hesitated. " I think we need to have someone stay behind. I just need to know who's staying behind. We should only have two people and one of the dogs with us on the run. You know, just in case something happens, one of us can be here and hold the fort."

"Don't worry, I'll stay behind." Monica said.

Kyle and I nodded. Kyle then called Chopper and we proceeded to the front. Before we got into the truck we did grab some melee weaponry; a metal baseball bat and a hand axe that are kept near the door. Kyle and I jumped into the car, I was driving and Kyle was sitting in the passenger seat. Chopper was in the little backseat.

We did see some cars that we successfully syphoned the gas out of, but most of them had no gas; possibly because most of them were people trying to escape and not being successful. We proceeded to syphon gas and one and a half gas cans later we arrived in the town.

The sight I saw was one of the worse scenes I have seen since the beginning of this horrible apocalypse.

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**This is my first Walking Dead Fan fiction and I would like feedback on how well you guys think I did. Thanks!-Jauntues Tigerwolf**


	2. Chapter 2-Town

**Disclaimer- I do not own the Walking Dead in any way, shape, or form.**

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_Previously on The New World..._

_The sight I saw was one of the worse scenes I have seen since the beginning of this horrible apocalypse._

The sight was terrible. There was not a car insight, instead there where bodies and body parts. Hands, arms, chests, heads, guts, gore, and strange gray mush; they were just all strewn about everywhere and the stench was terrible. There were signs, well actually they were just graffiti on barricades of windows. Most of them had disturbing messages.

Some had; 'NO HOPE, TURN BACK' and "LIVING-DEAD INSIDE'

None of the messages were exactly welcoming or comforting. Chopper hadn't growled or barked in warning so we were fine...for now.

We continued to drive past all the corpses and body parts and still there was no sign of the dead that the signs warned us about. We soon arrived at a supermarket that didn't look raided and didn't have bloody hand stains near the door or on the walls.

I looked up at the sign, it was a Ralph's grocery store. Kyle and I took put our guns in the holsters on our hips and kept our mêlée weapons in hand. Kyle took the bat while I took the hand axe. We slowly approached the store, the automatic doors glass was broken so we didn't have to worry about there being no power.

We squeezed through the entrance, making sure not to rip our clothes or cut ourselves on the shards of glass that still clung to the door frame. Once inside we examined the condition of the store.

There was some blood pools and some spattered on the walls, but no bodies. This could be good or bad. There being no bodies could mean one of two things. One: Some people came into the store, got hurt and discouraged and left. Two: There were bodies here, but they got up and walked away.

I looked at Kyle and I think he knew what I was thinking because he hefted his bat, poised to strike. I grabbed a couple of plastic baskets and we made trips to the food and drink isles. So far we had seen no walkers. I was quickly grabbing any can of food that I could reach. I read labels as I chucked the cans into the basket.

"Pineapple, soup, spam, beans, oranges, peaches, and tuna." I looked around for other canned foods but found none. Kyle and I wound up and down the isles, picking up soap, toothbrushes, tooth paste, floss, cat and dog food, bottles of water, beef jerky, still ripe fruits, and assorted candies and sweets.

It didn't take long to fill up the one of the baskets with as much as we could. We could only fill one though because there was nothing else. We ran out to the truck and placed the food in the back. We threw the tarp over and we continued to drive around in look of other shops and stores. We didn't find much more food or water. There was only a lot of trash and empty soda cans. We looked in a gun store that we discovered, only to find the shelves and wall racks stripped and barren. We took a look in the back of the store and found nothing but an old fashion wooden bow and a five pack of hunting arrows. To me this is a big deal, a bow isn't as good as a gun, but it has its perks. For one it makes a lot less noise and it has reusable ammo. You just need to retrieve the arrows and you have enough ammo to last you a very long time. Even if this was an old fashion bow, it was better to have one than none.

I grabbed the bow and the arrows and we left the store and I put the stuff in the back. I jumped back into the driver seat and looked at Kyle.

"Have you noticed anything strange?" I asked sarcastically.

"Ha, yeah, very strange." He answered.

"Where are they all? Not that I miss the Walkers, but I am curious."

"I don't blame you. Something isn't right here." Kyle said.

We continued through the town in silence. There was still no sign of Walkers anywhere. We spent the next ten minutes driving around in search for a store as un-looted as possible. There was no other store, they were all looted of the stuff we needed.

"We need more food than this." Kyle said, frustrated.

"I know. This won't last a week." I said. I pulled out a map from the glove compartment. I studied it for a minute.

"There's a neighborhood not too far from here. It's only three o'clock. We have time to go through a couple of houses then go back to the ranch." I informed him. "You up to going?"

"You know it." Kyle answered.

I grinned and we went off to the neighborhood.

It was only about a five-minute, Walker free drive. Most of the homes were in terrible shape. Windows and doors smashed in and blood on driveways and walls. I looked at the second story of one of the houses, there was a decapitated female corpse hanging out the window. I stopped the car once we agreed on a spot in the neighborhood.

In this part of our "operation" we let Chopper come with us. In these close quarters, it is good to have a dog, they can let you know if something is coming. It doesn't matter if it's a person or walker, in these times a person could be just as bad as a pack of Walkers.

I grabbed the plastic basket and we approached a white two-story house. The doors were still closed, but unlocked. I pushed the door in and it gave a foreboding 'creeeeeeeek'. I looked to Kyle.

"Feels like a god damn horror movie." He joked. He hefted his bat and entered the house, I followed closely behind. The first step was to go directly to the kitchen. This wasn't very difficult; the kitchen was through the living room and to the left as soon as you come through the door. I rushed directly to the cupboards. I opened the first three cupboards I could get my hands on. To my discouragement, however, there was nothing in them. Kyle was watching the hallway and the stairs, incase a Walker decided to finally show itself.

Looking through the cupboards provided us with nothing, I walked over to the pantry and threw the door open. There was some cans of pineapple and soup, there was also a huge can of peaches! There was a box of spaghetti strings and bags of microwave popcorn. On the bottom there were two small plastic boxes. One was full of brown sugar and the other was full of white sugar. I grabbed these and put them into the basket. In the back of the pantry I found two bags of unopened ground coffee beans.

I smiled,finally there would be some fresh coffee back home. How long had it since we had all had a good cup of coffee? Two weeks? Three? I walked over to the fridge and opened it. There were two gallons of milk, I opened them and sniffed the contents, it had soured. I put those back into the fridge and poked at a stick of butter. My finger sank into it. It was melted and only being held together by the paper that surrounded it. I looked around for something to wrap it up in and found a brown paper bag. I carefully stuck the butter in the bag and gently put it in the basket. I looked into the fridge again and found a bottle of coffee creamer and some condense milk. I opened the coffee creamer and found it to be spoiled. I didn't know the condense milks condition, but I put it in the basket. When there was nothing else in the kitchen Kyle and I decided to have a look-see upstairs.

When you are on the stairs of a two-story house, you tend to get very nervous. Bad thoughts just start to go through your head. Things like "Something is going to pop out any second." or "There is a Walker up there, just wait. When you're not looking it going to grab you and take a chunk out of your neck."

You have to learn to shake these thoughts from your head...it's a skill I even I was having trouble with.

The stairs were wood and gave the same ominous 'creeeek' the door had made almost every other step. I stopped at the very top and looked around. There were four rooms; the bathroom and three bedrooms. I checked the bathroom first, there was a bottle of tooth paste and some used bottles of shampoo and conditioner. The thing that spooked me though was one simple fact. The bath tub was wet, someone had used it recently.

"Kyle." I whispered urgently, motioning him over to look at my discovery.

His face tightened and his hand went to the pistol strapped to his hip. I put the hand axe on my belt and pulled my pistol from my hip as Kyle had done. We left the bathroom after seeing nothing else of interest. We went to one of the guest bedrooms. I lightly knocked in the door and then pressed my ear against it. There was no sound. I wrapped my hand around the door knob and looked back at Kyle. He nodded and pointed his gun where a Walker's head would be if they were to suddenly come running at us. My heart thumped faster at the anticipation. I slowly turned the knob and pushed the door in, quickly backing up and pointing my gun inside. To my relief nothing came out of the room, it was very quiet. Chopper sniffed the room and slowly walked inside. Comforted that Chopper found this room to be safe. I stepped in after Chopper and scanned the room. The bed had been made. Kyle stepped toward me.

"I don't think we are the only ones here Jane."

I nodded and my grip tightened on my pistol. I checked the closet as Kyle took Chopper to check the other room. In the closet there were some shirts that looked like they would fit Patricha. There were some nice jackets and sweaters as well. I was putting them into the basket when I heard Kyle whisper my name loudly. I quickly ran over to the other room, my pistol pointed in front of me. I aimed into the room, but I only saw Kyle and Chopper.

I growled and lower my gun. "Jesus Kyle! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry, I just wanted you to look at this." He held up a small suitcase. It was decorated it flowers, it was the kind of suitcase a little girl would have.

"Do you think they are still here?" I asked him.

"I think so, there is a pile of cloths over there. They don't look like they have been left there long. Chopper suddenly started to growl in the direction of the third and last bedroom. Kyle took point with Chopper by his side. His military training kicked in and he got up against the wall and slowly stepped toward the door. I was right behind him. When we got to the door frame, I quietly knocked on the door and pressed my ear against it. There was the soft shuffling of feet. I gulped and slowly slid my hand around the door knob. I tried to turn it, but it was locked. Kyle motioned with his head to move out-of-the-way. I complied and we switched positions. He tested the door knob himself and got the same result as I did. He looked at me and motioned to my pistol. I nodded and held it up, covering him. He gave the door a swift but powerful kick and the door's lock broke. The door swung in and Chopper started to bark. Kyle started to shout and there were shouts coming from inside the room. I went in after Kyle and Chopper with my pistol pointed at the occupants. Inside there were four people, two men, a woman, and a small girl. One of the men, who looked younger than the other, was armed with a pistol and the other, older one, was armed with...a katana. The woman was armed with a simple kitchen steak knife. The woman was keeping a young girl behind her. The girl looked about six or seven.

"Look just take whatever the hell you want, just leave." The younger man said.

"Put the gun down." Kyle growled.

"No chance." The younger man replied.

"We aren't here to hurt anyone. We didn't know you were here." I said. "Look I'm putting down my gun."

When I set my gun on the ground and stood with my hands in the air, the woman behind the two men relaxed. She touched the older man on the arm, trying to lower his hand.

"Are you crazy, Susan? The other one still has a gun." He said gruffly, his gaze still on Kyle.

"Okay, I'll put my gun down. If you put yours down." Kyle said, inclining his head to the younger man.

The younger man said nothing and kept his eyes on Kyle. Seeing that nobody was going to budge, I darted in front of both men and grabbed the barrels of both guns and pointed them at the ground. While it wasn't the smartest things to do, it worked. Everyone stopped the big stare down and focused on me.

"Look, I'm sorry we were taking stuff from your house. We didn't know you were here. I can return all your stuff and we can be on our way. Or I can offer you something better."

The younger man nodded slowly. "And what would that better something be?"

"Safety. I have a group of my own, we have other children there too. If you want, you can join us." I offered, extending my hand.

The young man stood there thinking.

"Oh for goodness sake, Jed." The woman or Susan said, walking forward and taking my proffered hand and shaking it.

"Ma." The younger man, apparently called 'Jed', said.

"We have Rebecca to worry about and these seem like honest people." Susan answered.

"Susan how do you know we can trust them?" The older man asked.

Susan looked into my eyes. "A woman does not lie when the life of a child is involved."

The older man looked very confused and apparently couldn't figure out Susan's reasoning. He threw his hands into the air and quietly said, "Women."

An awkward silence filled the room.

"Do you have extra food stored here?" Kyle asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, but we aren't leaving here now. We won't make it out of town before nightfall." Jed said.

"Why does that matter? I asked.

Jed sighed. "When you came here, did you wonder where all of those..._things_ are?"

"Yeah."

"Well, they come out by the swarms at night. That's why there are no bodies and only blood. All the dead either turned or were devoured entirely, bones and all." He explained gravely.

"If we hurry we can beat the hoards." Susan said.

"We have a pick up out in front. We can pack all the food in the back. Three of you can sit in the truck with me, but two people and Chopper are going to have to sit on the outside." Kyle said.

Jed nodded and he headed to where ever the stored food was with Kyle on his heels.

"It is strange what a peace offer will do to people." Susan said. I was confused and I must have looked it because she motioned to the floor where our guns lay forgotten. I pick up both my and Kyle's gun. I smiled appreciatively at Susan.

She extended her hand again. "Susan."

I took her hand. "Jane."

The older man extended his hand as well. "Simon."

I nodded and took his hand. "Jane."

Susan held the hand of the small girl. "Come on sweetie, introduce yourself to Ms. Jane."

"Hi, I'm Rebecca." The girl said shyly.

I smiled and knelt to her level. "Hello Rebecca."

"Are there really other kids where you live?" She asked.

"Yes. There are three other kids." I answered.

Her eyes started to shine and she jumped up and down a little. Her moment of happiness, however, was interrupted by Kyle appearing through the doorway.

"The truck is all loaded up, we have to leave now if we want to make it out of here before the hoards."

I nodded and headed downstairs. Rebecca was holding Susan's hand. The young man was standing in the doorway and Rebecca gave a little squeal and ran toward him.

"Uncle Jeddie, are we really going somewhere else?!"

Jed picked her up. "Yes we are hon."

Rebecca giggled as Jed carried her to the truck. He put her in the back seat and Susan sat with her. Simon sat in the passenger seat, with his big katana in front of him. I handed Kyle his gun as he climbed into the driver's seat.

"Chopper!" I commanded, patting the hood of the truck. The dog hopped on the hood and made his way to the cargo hold of the pick-up. I jumped in from the back of the truck to find that Jed was already in the back. He was petting and rubbing Chopper's back. He looked up and saw me and I sat beside him, avoiding all the food and cloths that were packed.

"Did you get your gun?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I got it." He answered patting the holster on his hip. "You know I didn't properly introduce myself. I'm Jed."

I smiled. "I'm Jane."

"Well, Jane, I can't thank you enough. I wasn't sure if I could stay one more night there. I know 'Becca couldn't. She was getting really scared of all the moans and those things pounding on doors and walls."

"Well, we survivors have to stick together." I said.

"Where are we going exactly? Where is your group?"

"I own a ranch, it's about half an hour away from here. That's where we all live."

"A ranch huh. Do you have any animals on it?"

"Yeah, I have some horses and a couple of cows. I have two dogs and a cat and we have Chopper here. He's Kyle's military dog." I said, patting Chopper on the back.

" 'Becca's going to be in heaven. She loves horses to death. She is always saying how she when she grows up she is going to buy all the horses she can get."

"Isn't that almost every girls dream growing up." I laughed.

Night was falling fast and I swear I saw shadows move.

"You're not imagining it." Jed said as he saw me squint.

I tapped on the window in the back and I saw Kyle's eyes look at me in the rearview mirror. I made the motion of a motorcycle throttle, signaling for him to go a bit faster. He nodded and I heard the engine roar a little louder. We were getting closer to the towns end and that is when I saw one of the hoards that Jed had been talking about.

It was like a sea of Walkers. All of them were blood stained and mindlessly walking around. I could hear their moans and hisses from the sixty yards we were from them. None of them looked at us for seemed to hear us and I figured out why. There was someone screaming inside the house they were in front of. It didn't look like the Walkers had gotten inside yet, so for whatever reason the woman was screaming and howling like a fisher cat.

"That's just a Halloween recording. I set it up last week. I keeps most of them away from us, but not all of them." Jed explained.

"Could have had me fooled that it was real." I said.

Surprisingly we made it out of the neighborhood and town without getting so much as looked at. We arrived at the ranch in half an hour. It was now around six o'clock. Everyone hopped out of the car and helped take out the supplies.

When Rebecca climbed out of the back she was shouting excitedly "A farm, a farm. We're going to live on a farm!"

I couldn't help smiling at her enthusiasm. I walked over to her-she had run all the way to the front porch. "When we are all done unloading the car, do you want to see the horses?"

Her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and she nodded violently.

I tweaked her nose lightly and that made her giggle. She took my hand and we walked back to the truck where everyone was now gathered and introducing themselves. The kids saw Rebecca and ran over to meet her. Rebecca let go of my hand and let herself be swarmed by the other children who were talking and asking a flurry of questions. I continued to the truck. Susan was talking with Patricha, Josephine, and Monica. Simon was talking to Richard and Philip and Jed was talking with Kyle, the two of them were laughing. Jed turned around and saw me, said something to the Kyle then left to walk over to me.

"You have some good people here." He said.

"They are great folks." I replied. "What were you all laughing about?"

"Oh, we were just talking about how you met us and how you had guns pointed and everything."

"Only you men could make a joke about a life and death situation."

"Well if we didn't who would?"

I smiled, "What to head inside? I told Rebecca I would show her the horses."

"Oh boy, you better be careful Ms. Jane, once she sees the horses you might never get her to leave them."

"It's just Jane, no need to add the Ms."

Jed nodded and headed into the house. I found Rebecca, she was with the other kids looking at Bounder who was still out of his stall. They were showing her the different brushes and how to use them. Rebecca was absorbing all of this like a sponge and giving Bounder enough pets and pats to last him a life time. I briefly interrupted her to take Bounder back to his stall. For the first time, for all the years I had owned Bounder, he looked tired from all the attention. The other horses were looking out of their stalls and Rebecca was right there patting all of their noses and quietly complimenting everything from their color to their tail. She even helped me change their water and give them hay. I told her that I was going to muck out their stalls, so she would be able to see and pet all the horses. At this she gave a Cheshire cat grin and continued patting all the horses.

When it was time to go inside, Rebecca patted all the horses one last time and went inside for a late dinner of spaghetti. It was one of the happiest dinners we have had in a long while. For once everyone was smiling and laughing, and just plain happy. Richard even proposed a toast to Susan, Simon, Jed, and Rebecca. It was very nice.

Once the kids were done with dinner, they all started showing Rebecca around the house.

Jinx hopped onto my shoulder and purred loudly. I reached up and stroked her ears, "I missed you too." Seeing how much attention Jinx was getting, Charlie and Sarah came over and started licking my hand and pawing at my legs.

"Hey I missed you guys too." I said, patting them enthusiastically.

One everyone had showered, I showed Susan, Simon, Jed, and Rebecca where they would be sleeping. Which turned out to be in the very large living room, where Kyle, Monica, and I slept. Rebecca was more than happy to sleep in the living room.

"It's just like camping, except with out the tent!" She exclaimed as she snuggled into her sleeping bag. It didn't take her long to fall asleep.

I had just helped Susan get her sleeping bag unraveled and was walking to my sleeping bag when Jed stopped me.

"I just wanted to thank you again for letting us stay here. It means a lot to us. We fully intend to earn our keep here."

"No need to thank me. Good folks have to help each other out. But thanks, we could use more help around here."

He nodded and started to walk away but I stopped him. "Jed, I forgot to ask, what is your last name?"

"Taylor." He said, walking over to Rebecca, who was snuggled in her sleeping bag with Jinx in her arms like a teddy bear.


	3. Chapter 3- Rebecca the Horse Queen

**Disclaimer- I do not own The Walking Dead. **

* * *

_Previously on The New World..._

_"I just wanted to thank you again for letting us stay here. It means a lot to us. We fully intend to earn our keep here."_

_"No need to thank me. Good folks have to help each other out. But thanks, we could use more help around here."_

_He nodded and started to walk away but I stopped him. "Jed, I forgot to ask, what is your last name?"_

_"Taylor." He said, walking over to Rebecca, who was snuggled in her sleeping bag with Jinx in her arms like a teddy bear._

The next day was just as happy as the night before. The new families arrival sparked hope that there would be more good survivors. I can't say that I will be able to support a huge group, but if it came to it...I would do my best.

All the kids were up early and begging me to take them horse back riding as soon as they finished breakfast. When there are a bunch of little kids giving you big watery puppy eyes, you can't refuse. So, I told them I would. I had finished breakfast long before them and it would be awhile until we had to go on a supply run or anything like that, so I set out to gear up the horses. Charlie, Sarah, and Jinx decided to go with me and I let them.

One by one I was taking out horses. I first took out Bounder and started brushing and rubbing him down.

"Need some help with that?" A voice said.

I looked behind me, it was Jed with a grin on his face.

"Sure, you know how?" I asked, handing him the brush.

Jed took the brush. "Yeah...if volunteering at a petting zoo counts."

I laughed. "Well...I'm not entirely sure about that. Do you know what the different brushes are for."

"No clue." Jed said apologetically.

"I have one!" Said another voice excitedly.

Jed turned around and standing behind him was Rebecca, grinning from ear to ear.

"Can I do it?" She asked softly.

Jed handed her the brush in his hand. "Sure kiddo, how about you teach me how to do it too."

Rebecca smiled and looked down at the brush in her hand. "Okay Uncle Jed, this is a curry comb. You brush the horse in circles like this."

As Rebecca was giving Jed a lesson on horse grooming, I took out my second horse Rush. Rush is an older Mustang. He is a bit harder to handle than Bounder, but he is a safe horse. You even _try_ to do something unsafe, he's going to correct himself and not listen to the command.

I quickly brushed him down and when I was done, all the kids were finished with breakfast and rushing out to help me brush the horses.

I assigned Jessie, Paul, and Lucie to groom Willow. Willow is a Appaloosa horse in her prime. When she was younger she was like a Willow whip, fast, spry, and thin. She has lost some of her speed, but unless you've raised her like I have; you wouldn't know.

I quickly brushed my favorite horse, Sea Breeze. Sea Breeze is a female Palomino horse. She, however, has a color defect that makes her color completely black. Her tail and mane are a dark grey, but still close to black. I call her Sea Breeze because she is like the sea's breeze, fast and gentile, yet unyielding. Sea Breeze is one of the bravest horses I have. During the first days of the apocalypse, she single...hoofed-ly bashed three Walkers heads in, all with cool and level demeanor. The only way I knew she had done it was because the other horses were panicking, rearing and screaming.

After brushing them all down I saddled them all up. I have sixteen of each type of saddle, which is Western and English saddle. I gave all the horses Western Saddles with the exception of Willow, who for some reason didn't like the weight, I guess. I gave them all their bridles and grabbed some extra bridles and lead ropes. I also grabbed an old fashion lasso, you never know when they could come in handy. I fastened them all to Sea Breeze and told everyone what I had planned for the day.

"Okay, everyone. Today is a special day." I said. I had all the kids bright eyes attention. "Today, not only are we going to ride the horses. We are going to go up to some other ranches to see if we can find some more. I will just need to have Paul and Jessie ride together so that Rebecca can come with us."

All the children gasped and smiled; Paul and Jessie gave no complaint. Jed looked at me, giving me a strange look. "We aren't going inside the ranches though. We are going to enter from the field. That way of anyone sees anything, whether it is a horse or a walker, we can just give a shout and we can take care of it. I do have a few rules and I will only be taking the kids who are willing to follow them." I said gravely.

The children all nodded, paying rapt attention to what I was about to say.

"Rule number one: You will stay on your assigned horse. There will be no switching horses once I have shown you your horse. Rule number two: You will not ride off to where you want. You will be staying behind one another in a single file line. Rule number three: You will do exactly what I say, if I tell you to RUN, you take your horse back to the ranch. If I tell you to STAY, you don't move at all. The last rule: Do not scream. It will spook the horses and I don't want anyone being thrown off. Does everyone agree to these rules?"

"Yes Miss Jane." All the kids said.

"Okay, I am going to show you your horses now." I said. I touched Jessie and Paul on their shoulders and they followed me to Bounder. They both smiled and I helped them clamber onto him. Jessie was in front and had the reins while Paul was behind her sitting on a saddle blanket peeking out from behind her.

I went back and touched Lucie on her shoulder I showed her to Rush, she climbed onto his back and smiled once she was on. She patted Rush's neck and adjusted her seating until she gave me a thumbs up.

I then went back and lead Rebecca to Willow. She climbed on her back with ease. She giggled until she was joined on the horse with Jed.

"Uncle Jed, you are coming too?"

"Yep. You should have two adults on this team." He suggested to me in his answer. I nodded and grabbed him a hand axe. He stuck it in his belt and nodded.

"Would you mind if I borrowed this?" I asked Simon, holding up the sheathed Katana.

"Feel free to own it. I could never use that thing anyway. It is sharp, good enough for slicing and dicing. I am more of a blunt person." He said. I nodded my thanks and slung the sword on my back. Simon had added a rope to go around the back for easy access. I grabbed some camel packs, quickly filled them with water and gave one to each of the kids and one for myself.

I unhitched all the horses, swung myself into Sea Breeze, told Jinx, Charley, and Sarah to stay home, and we headed off.

We trotted and walked for a good mile before we came across the first ranch. We strode into the pasture only to find that the horses had escaped their pen. I told all the kids to keep and eye out for them. They were having a good time.

We rode on for another half mile. There was another ranch. In the pen there was a single solitary cow. It was mooing pitifully. It was stuck in its stall, it was extremely skinny. The only problem, three Walkers were banging on the bars and trying to get in and eat the cow. I motioned for all the kids to stop and stay where they were. I rode forward a bit. The Walkers were oblivious to our presence. I drew the katana and trotted to the Walkers. The first one was a female, blood coated her front and she looked quite plump. I quickly sliced at her and succeeded in slicing her arm off. She gave a hair-raising screech and swung her other arm at me only to have that one sliced off. I then cut off her head. Just in time too, the other two were shambling toward me after hearing their now dead companion screech. Now having a feel for the sword I sliced off their heads with ease. I wiped the sword on the long grass while ripping up a handful and feeding it to the cow. The cow quieted for a moment then started mooing again. I opened the stall and the cow immediately ran out and started ripping up all the grass it could. I had no difficulty putting the lasso around its neck. I tied the lasso to the horn of my saddle and literally had to drag the cow away. It finally stopped struggling and after taking one more big mouthful, it willingly followed me around. I joined back up with the kids.

"Remind me never to make you angry." Jed joked.

I smiled. "This is an awesome weapon to have, It's pretty light."

Without another word we left for another ranch.

The next ranch was a quarter of a mile away. I had visited the owners of this ranch and knew that they had quite a few horses themselves. I wasn't so sure of that now. I headed toward the barn in the back. I lead the kids to the side of the barn and I got off Sea Breeze. I opened the door, which was surprisingly unlocked. When the door opened and the light flooded in the room, three heads turned to look at me. The heads belonged to three horses, they didn't look as skinny as the cow, but they looked like they could use a trip to the pasture. I grabbed a spare bridle and lead going to the nearest stall. In that stall was a Chestnut horse. I looked at the small plaque beside it. 'Sunny' It read.

"Okay, Sunny, let's get you out of here." I cooed. I slipped the bridal and lead rope on and walked it to Bounder. I tied the lead to the saddle horn. I told Jessie and Paul not to worry that the horse wouldn't drag them away when they gave me worried expressions. I grabbed another lead and bridal, rounding up the next horse; a Bay horse called Checkers. I tied Checkers to Rush, telling Lucie the same thing I told Paul and Jessie. I went back to Sea Breeze and grabbed the second to last lead and bridal that I had brought. I rounded up the last horse, another bay horse called Pokey.

As I was leading Pokey out, the thing I feared happened. As I was coming out Lucie screamed. The sudden sound spooked the horse that was attached to Bounder. It tried to run, but Bounder tried to keep steady. However when Sunny gave a violent tug on the lead Bounder was thrown sideways. He regained is balance before he fell, but Paul didn't. Paul was on the floor and I that was when I saw the reason Lucie had screamed. More than a dozen walkers had walked out from behind the barn and they were running for the horses. I tugged the lead rope and ran to Paul. I hauled him to his feet and half lead and half dragged him to Sea Breeze. I threw him onto her back and said to all the kids. "Run!"

Paul and the cow took off running and caught up with Jessie and Lucie who were in the lead. Rebecca and Jed were right behind them. I swung myself onto Pokey and started to run after them. I never rode bare back very often and now was reminding me why. Riding bare back really hurts the butt. I grabbed the lead rope that was dangling beside me. The Walkers were running inhumanly fast now. I looked ahead and to my horror, Rebecca and stopped her horse and was running after the horse that had been tied to it. The knot must have come undone and now she was trying to catch it. Jed was trying to call her back and get her. He looked back and I motioned that I would get her and he had to keep up with the others. He looked torn, but in the end he listened, going slowly though. I raced to Rebecca who was now holding the lead rope of the horse. I grabbed her by the arm and lifted her onto the horse. She looked startled, but she soon snapped out of it and gave Sunny a sharp slap to the rump. I looked behind me. The Walkers were quickly approaching.

I stopped and drew my sword. I heard hoof beats beside me and saw Rebecca.

"Go with the others. I can handle this." I said.

"I want to help." She answered defiantly.

"No, you don't even have a weapon." I scolded.

"Yes I do." She said holding up an axe. "I took it from my Uncle Jed before I stopped the horse."

I had to admit she was smart to do so, but I still didn't want her to fight with me. I looked forward. The Walkers were a few more yards away from us. I guess she had no choice now. I kicked the horse into a fast gallop, Rebecca doing the same. I drew my sword and poised to strike. Rebecca held the hand axe out and gave a wild indian cry. It impressed and startled me. This little girl was about to kill Walkers and she wasn't afraid. We met the Walkers with a flurry of chops and slashes. Rebecca was having no problem killing the Walkers. Whenever she was close. She drove the head of the axe into the head of a Walker. I was slicing off jaws and heads, finishing off those that Rebecca had missed. When all the zombies lay in puddles of mud and rotted flesh, I let out a sigh.

"Are you okay?" I asked Rebecca.

She nodded and rode her horse to my side.

"Where did you learn all that." I asked her, pointing to the axe.

"When we lived in the other house, I sometimes had to help Grandma or Uncle Jed." She shrugged.

"How old are you?"

"Nine." She said proudly.

I nodded and silently walked Pokey, letting him catch his breath. Since he hadn't been fed for a while he was weak, he was also a bit out of shape. When we reached the last ranch we decided to run the rest of the way.

It still took awhile to reach the ranch, but we got there. I saw all the kids waiting on the back porch. Their horses tied up to posts. I tied up Pokey and was going to help Rebecca only to find that she had already tied up her horse.

"Is there anything you can't do on that horse?" I asked her.

"Yes, I can't jump or do all those tricks the professionals do." She said.

"Still. I am officially naming you the horse queen." I said.

Rebecca had a huge smile on her face and she followed me to the tack room. I found a brown cowboy hat and stuck it on her head.

"And that is your crown." I said.

"So we are both queens?" She asked?

"What?"

"You have a cowgirl hat too." She said.

In the excitement I had forgotten all about my hat. "Yes, yes we are."

"Goody." She said. She took my hand and we headed out to the posts so I could rub down all the horses. I was about to unhitch Sunny when Lucie tapped my waist.

"I am soooo sorry Miss. Jane for screaming I didn't mean to...to... almost kill Paul." She cried. Tears trailed down her cheek. I hugged her.

"Shhh. Shhh. It's okay. We all made it. It's okay." I said. She cried on my shoulder for a couple more seconds then she stopped.

"Can I still ride the horses?" She sniffled.

"Yes, you just need to remember not to scream. Okay. Can you do that?"

Lucie nodded and she and Rebecca helped me take Pokey, Sunny, and Checkers to some extra stalls.

We rubbed down the other horses and took them to their stalls. I lead the cow to the others and it was greatly accepted to the herd. The bulls and cows sniffed and licked the other cow and then the all grazed together.

We went into the house and Jed appeared out of nowhere and scooped Rebecca into his arms into a bear hug.

"Don't ever scare me like that again. You hear?"

"Yes Uncle Jed." Rebecca said, returning the hug.

Jed released her. "Thank you for getting her here safe. I guess I owe you another one huh?"

"Not at all. Rebecca was like a little Indian out there. I never knew someone so small could let out such a fierce yell." I said.

Jed didn't say anything, he just pulled me into a bear hug. I was stunned for a moment, then I awkwardly patted him on the back. He released me.

"None the less, thank you." He said and walked away, holding Rebecca's hand.


End file.
